There is growing recognition that technology alone will not provide all of the solutions to security and privacy problems. Human factors play an essential role in these areas, and it is important for security and privacy experts to have an understanding of how people will interact with the systems they develop. This course is designed to introduce students to a variety of usability and user-interface problems related to privacy and security and to give them experience in understanding and designing studies aimed at helping to evaluate usability issues in security and privacy systems. The course is suitable both for students interested in privacy and security who would like to learn more about usability, as well as for students interested in usability who would like to learn more about security and privacy. Much of the course will be taught in a graduate seminar style in which all students will be expected to do reading assignments for each class. Students will also work on a group project throughout the semester.

The course is open to all students who have technical
backgrounds. The 12-unit course numbers (8-734, 5-836, 19-734) are for
PhD students and masters students. Students enrolled in these course
numbers will be expected to play a leadership role in a group project
that produces a paper suitable for publication. The 9-unit 500-level
course numbers (8-534, 5-436, 19-534) are for juniors, seniors, and
masters students. Students enrolled in these course numbers will have
less demanding project and presentation requirements.